Born 19 June 1882 at Ballarat, Victoria, Leonora Millicent (Millie) Allender was the daughter of John Allender and Mary Ann née Turner. Educated at Queen's College, Ballarat, she completed her Matriculation at the Melbourne University and trained as a nurse at the Melbourne General Hospital from 1902 - 1905. Leonora spent two years in private nursing as a Theatre Sister at 'Clarendon', before returning to the Melbourne Hospital as a Staff Sister in 1909 and soon became Sister in charge of the Casualty Rooms, also the Outpatients Department and Summer Theatre. She was Acting Matron at Coroki Hospital in 1911, then the Theatre and Gynaecology Sister at the Women's Hospital, Melbourne in 1912 before venturing into a Private Nursing Home of her own in Melbourne from 1912 - 1914. Leonora travelled to London and enlisted with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve on 16 May 1915 and soon left England for twelve months service in Malta and on Hospital Transport as a Sister working at St. Andrew's Military Hospital, Malta from 5 October 1915 to 8 April 1916. She resigned her appointment with QAIMNSR on 16 May 1916 in order to return to Australia.
In March 1917 she was Mentioned in Despatches for service in the Guildford Ward Hospital. From The Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail, Friday 27 April 1917 page 3 - “After varied and interesting experiences of life on active service, Miss L. Allender, a military nurse, has returned to Melbourne. When war nurses were needed, she joined the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve, and volunteered for Service. She reached Nish at a time when typhus was raging and increasing the death-toll at a terrific rate. Frequently piles of bodies were allowed to accumulate because those in charge of the burial grounds could not cope with the task that awaited them each day. Miss Allender and a woman orderly were the only British women attached to the Servian Army Medical Corps, which comprised men and women doctors from Russia, France, Albania, and other countries.“ On 27 April 1917, Nurse Allender enlisted with the Australian Army Nursing Service and embarked from Sydney, New South Wales per Ulysses on 9 May 1917, arriving at Plymouth, England on 29 July 1917. Assigned to the No.1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, she was stationed at the Croydon War Hospital and the Harefield Hospital until 26 August 1918, when she was hospitalised. She returned to Australia for surgery on 28 September 1918 per Malta and was demobilised on 8 March 1919. In 1920 Leonora was residing at 'Wymera' Mair Street, Ballarat, Victoria and in 1922 she had moved to Canterbury, Victoria. By July 1927 she had returned to London, England where she married Merchant Seaman, Captain Thomas Raymond Ireland.
Leonora died on 11 June 1959 at Geelong, Victoria and was buried at the Fawkner Cemetery on 13 June 1959.
Her brother Leonard Eardington Allender also served in the AIF and is honoured with a tree in the Avenue.